Stay on target

Between remakes and later variants of existing games, Pokemon handheld RPGs are almost an annualized franchise at this point. However, there’s still just enough time between brand new core entries to make the arrival of the next Pokemon generation feel like a true gaming event. That event is almost upon us again as Pokemon Sun and Moon for Nintendo 3DS are less than a month away. What we’ve seen so far has looked very promising, and you can even play a demo now.

However, as fabulous as Dugtrio’s new Alolan hair looks, I’m not sure I’ll pick up this new game. I probably won’t be joining in on this celebration of the franchise’s 20th anniversary. This isn’t because I think Pokemon Sun and Moon look bad. It’s just that in my gaming travels, I’ve learned that the best way to play Pokemon is to know when to wait. And I’m waiting for Pokemon on Nintendo’s next console, the recently revealed Nintendo Switch.

My Pokemon history, let me explain it to you. I remember being a kid when Pokemon Red and Blue changed everything back in 1998. The Game Boy games were truly a seismic gaming shift, getting Westerners addicted to a concept as thoroughly Japanese as collecting pocket monsters as well as getting children addicted to the relatively complex role-playing game genre. I liked the cards and the anime but I loved the games. And sure, when looking back now nostalgia plays a big role, but few would disagree that part of the franchise’s impressive longevity (and profitability) is due to the continuing sheer strength of its fundamental gameplay, gameplay that started with those games.

Despite my love affair with the original games, though, I didn’t immediately make the leap to their sequels Pokemon Gold and Silver. I don’t exactly remember why. Maybe it was because I thought having to buy a new Pokemon game was a scam? That’s why I didn’t get a Game Boy Advance until well after the SP game out. Maybe it was because I thought the originals were still great. Or maybe it was because I was just a poor, broke child living in Dot-com bubble New Jersey, not a fabulously wealthy New York City games journalist.

From 2004 on I was a huge fan of the Nintendo DS, but I was also a self-conscious tween embarrassed by the idea of playing a “kiddie” franchise like Pokemon. It wasn’t until I became confident enough in my own game opinions, mostly by writing reviews, that I finally revisited the franchise. And boy were they worth the wait.

Pokemon Gold and Silver and Pokemon Black and White are in my opinion the best Pokemon games not just because they have the coolest names but because they are actual sequels that build upon the franchise’s ideas. They aren’t just Pokemon on a new system. This is because they were the second generations of their respective platforms, they couldn’t coast on the novelty of new hardware. Pokemon Sun and Moon look encouraging for similar reasons Furthermore, taking a lengthy Pokemon hiatus allowed years of incremental changes to hit me all at once. More than 151 Pokemon? A city based on New York? Color Graphics!?!?

High on the freshness of Pokemon Black and White, I decided to buy Pokemon X and Y for the Nintendo 3DS on launch day. Unfortunately, this was a mistake. Despite 3D graphics being a huge change for the series, I couldn’t ignore the underlying sameness. It was pretty much the same game I already played just two years earlier. Deflated, I returned to Pokemon hibernation, aside from a little Pokemon Go.

I get why Pokemon comes out as often as it does. It makes money and there are always kids who need a jumping on point for the series. Pokemon Sun and Moon will be some child’s first Pokemon game and it will blow their minds. But once you’re in, you don’t have to stay in. If you step out, you can return with an even greater appreciation.

That’s why I’m waiting for the inevitable Pokemon game for the Nintendo Switch, and you should too. For one thing, by the time it comes out I will have recovered from my Pokemon X and Y burnout. But furthermore, the very nature of the Switch promises a Pokemon game the likes of which we’ve never seen.

The Switch marries Nintendo’s console and handheld hardware in a mobile device you can dock on your TV. That means we should be getting the true handheld Pokemon RPG adventure we’re used to in a machine powerful enough to run Skyrim. Imagine the possibilities! How can you not be at least intrigued by that?

If you want to play Pokemon Sun and Moon on November 18, go ahead. There are plenty of reasons to be jazzed for it. But if you want your next Pokemon experience to be a truly revolutionary one, join me in waiting for Pokemon on the Nintendo Switch. Or maybe Nintendo will just port Sun and Moon to Switch and we’ll all be happy.